#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Komsomolsky park had gazebos, benches, wooden dance floors and verandas. Youth festivals, concerts, dances were arranged there. Print cotton or staple balls were a beautiful sight.
Girls were allowed to the ball on one condition – they had to be in a print cotton or staple dress. Most of the outfits were hand-sewn.
The jury chose the best from hundreds of models presented by the girls, and the winners were awarded with prizes – for example, a large cake.
In addition to the cultural load, such balls were supposed to be the trade engine. Here is how Edita Kuchkina, a seller of the Central department store in 1960s, the future Talnah department store, recalled this:
“In order to promote trade, model dresses were sewn on us, sellers, in the tailor shop, which we demonstrated. I remember that the most popular fabrics were plush, panne velvet, silk, crepe de chine. But cotton was not in demand. It cost 53 kopecks per meter, sateen – 77 kopecks, they were ordered to the shop a lot, but customers were reluctant to buy them.
To promote the goods, summer dresses and sundresses began to be sewn for us, fashion shows on the dance floor and print cotton balls were arranged”.
Thus, a new, non-petty-bourgeois, image of a Norilsk woman was formed in the city.
In the History spot’s last issue, we talked about Norilsk own private dwelling sector from spontaneous self-building that the city once had.
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Text: Svetlana Ferapontova, Photo: Nornickel Polar Division archive
